Kochi airport authorities to install more surveillance cameras

Kochi: In the view of sharp rise in number of gold smuggling cases, the Cochin International Airport authorities Monday decided to install more surveillance cameras at the airport and strengthen security operations.

A high-level meeting chaired by airport Director A C K Nair asked various agencies not to appoint persons having criminal background at the airport, keeping in mind an increase in gold smuggling cases detected at the Kochi airport allegedly with the assistance of some people working with various agencies.

The meeting suggested that employees working with various agencies will have to undergo thorough screening by security officials before and after their airport duty, a release said.

Agencies should take measures to observe activities of their employees at the airport and any suspicious move should be reported to concerned security officials, the meeting said.

Nair said more surveillance cameras will be installed at the terminal and its premises as part of the efforts to strengthen security at the airport.

Officials of the Customs Air Intelligence Unit at the Airport had last week seized about 13 kg of gold, valued approximately at over Rs 23 crore in the open market, and arrested an air passenger who arrived from Dubai.

The passenger landed here from Dubai had concealed eight gold bars, each weighing one kilogram, beneath the last row of the passenger ferry bus in which he travelled up to the terminal after disembarking from the flight.